19800608 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.2.41

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on June 8, 1980 in Calcutta, India. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto 7, Chapter 2, Text 41.

Translation: Every conditioned soul receives a different type of body according to his work, and when the engagement is finished the body is finished. Although the spirit soul is situated in subtle and gross material bodies in different forms of life, he is not bound by them, for he is always understood to be completely different from the manifested body.

Purport: (Here it is very plainly explained that) God is not responsible for the living entity’s accepting different types of bodies. One has to accept a body according to the laws of nature and one’s own karma. Therefore the Vedic injunction is that a person engaged in material activities should be given directions by which he can intelligently apply his activities to the service of the Lord to become free from the material bondage of repeated birth and death (sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya siddhiṁ vindati mānavaḥ). The Lord is always ready to give (directions) benedictions. Indeed, His directions are elaborately given in Bhagavad-gītā. If we take advantage of these directions, then in spite of our being conditioned by the laws of material nature, we shall become free to attain our original constitution (mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te – Bg 7.14). We should have firm faith that the Lord is supreme and that if we surrender to Him, He will take charge of us and indicate how we can get out of material life and return home, back to Godhead. Without such surrender, one is obliged to accept a certain type of body according to his karma, sometimes as an animal, sometimes a demigod and so on. Although the body is obtained and lost in due course of time, the spirit soul does not actually mix with the body, but is subjugated by the particular modes of nature with which he is sinfully associated. Spiritual education changes one’s consciousness so that one simply carries out the orders of the Supreme Lord and becomes free from the influence of the modes of material nature.

bhūtāni tais tair nija-yoni-karmabhir 
bhavanti kāle na bhavanti sarvaśaḥ 
na tatra hātmā prakṛtāv api sthitas 
tasyā guṇair anyatamo hi badhyate

Translation: Every conditioned soul receives a different type of body according to his work, and when the engagement is finished the body is finished. Although the spirit soul is situated in subtle and gross material bodies in different forms of life, he is not bound by them, for he is always understood to be completely different from the manifested body.

Jayapatākā Swami: Just as fire is situated within wood, yet it is separate from wood, it is not the same as wood - in the same way, the spirit soul is within the body, yet it is separate. It is not the same as the other ingredients within this material body. So, this spirit soul, does not mix with the body, it is subjugated; it is controlled by the sinful association with the three modes of material nature. The three modes of material nature mix with each other, that makes three and three different combinations and then again, they mix, and then again, they mix, and you come up with 81 different combinations; those are considered to be principle. Then, there are again so many mixtures in the mode of goodness, mode of passion, mode of ignorance, which create the unlimited varieties of life within this universe.

All mixtures of the basic three ingredients: sattva, rajas and tamas. But the living entity is individual and independent from this mixing. But due to the association with material nature the living entity thinks, “I am the enjoyer of this material world.” and thus is bound by the stringent laws of this material world.

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ 
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate
(Bg 3.27)

Bewildered by illusion the conditioned soul is thinking, “I’m the doer.”— kartāham iti manyate. In factuality, in actuality, the doer is this material world; this material energy is doing everything; the living entity is simply desiring. So long as the living entity is desiring to be independent of Kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga vāñchā kare; so long he is turning his face away from Kṛṣṇa desiring sense gratification māyā (tāre) jāpaṭiyā dhare. Māyā is simply tackling him, tackling the living entity and binding strict very rigidly within her grips. So, we are trying in this material world to get out of these grips by making so many plans. But here it very clearly states that everyone is suffering and enjoying according to his karma.

A person is working very hard from morning till night with an idea “I will become happy.” Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura he wrote a beautiful song in Bengali, “amāra jīvana..” Where he portrayed that he was born, he was in the… begging to be born, suffering in the womb, so many miserable conditions he was born and then he was immediately worshipped by everyone; and he forgot all about his prayers to Kṛṣṇa to become a devotee and he was thinking, “Everything is meant for me, they are feeding me, they are clothing me, they are taking care of me, I am the center of all attraction! So, therefore, the world is meant for my pleasure.” In this way, he passed his days playing.

As he grew, finally he was sent to school. In school, he had to compete very hard with his classmates, finally going to primary school, high school, he went into his degree course, and he finished his jaḍa-vidya, his cultivation of materialistic knowledge. After getting his degree, then he went out in the market to compete to get his service; then he got married; he had so many children and he goes on singing that how he becomes absorbed in various kinds of activities finally he prays, “Now I am becoming old, nothing is very pleasant anymore and I am thinking that how I have lead my whole life and I have simply forgotten Your lotus feet, O my dear darling of Yaśodā and Nanda! how I have lead my whole life, simply absorbed in these activities and forgetting all along your lotus feet. Now I am simply thinking how I can be engaged in your service. I simply surrender unto you.”

So, here Śrīla Prabhupāda has said in this purport, that we should have the firm faith that the Lord is Supreme and that if we surrender to Him, He would take charge of us and indicate how we can get out of material life and return home; back to Godhead. Without such surrender, one is obliged to accept a certain type of body according to his karma; sometimes as an animal, sometimes a demigod and so on; that unless one surrenders to Kṛṣṇa. That means he is free from his karma.

Kṛṣṇa says:

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja 
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo/ mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
(Bg 18.66)

“By surrendering to me,” Kṛṣṇa is saying, “I deliver you from all your karma.”

So, unless someone is surrendering to Kṛṣṇa, that means he is not delivered from his karma. Work done for Viṣṇu is purifying and work done not for Viṣṇu is binding; that is the real secret of karma. So, one who is working against Viṣṇu’s interest, he is subject to accept all the fruits of his activities, all the karma-phala. What is that fruit? That is the next life; after leaving this body he must again take birth in this material world either as a human or as an animal or as a demigod. Svarge uṭhai, narake ḍubāi dandha rājagandha jana lohite subhai - sometimes one is raised to svarga, heavenly planets; sometimes he is cast down to hell.

Just like a criminal in the ducking stool is sometimes put within the water and sometimes lifted out. This is the position we are in. We are dunked into the water, and we are just about to, we feel we’re going to drown. We don’t like it all any more this material world and then māyā gives one little bit of hope, little bit of material bhoga and we take one gasp of air, aaahh!!! (loud sound of inhaling a breath of air) and we think now I am enjoying, then again dunk into that water, again suffer, and then we get one gasp of one gasp of air, aaahh!! (loud sound of inhaling a breath of air), and again we think, “Now I am enjoying; again we are cast into this miserable condition; this is what is happening.

So, this law of karma is very very complex. The law of karma is working in multiple stages. Even if someone thinks that “I have lead a good life; I have not tried to cheat anyone; I have not tried to hurt anyone; I am leading a good life; therefore, I have nothing to fear.” Unfortunately, this is not the position. You may have known the story of Mahābhārata that Vidura is actually Yamarāja, the same Yamarāja that is speaking here is Vidura in the Mahābhārata. How is it? Vidura is considered to be the son of a maid servant; How is it that Yamarāja, the most exalted demigod, is forced to take birth as the son of a maid servant?

(Aside:) Subhāg do you know? Alright! What you doing? No, No. Keep it open.

The history is that, millions of years before, one big sage was sitting in his āśrama and some dacoits were fleeing; some criminals were fleeing from the king, king’s soldiers, and two of them hid within his āśrama unknown to the sādhu. So, when they searched in the āśrama, they said, “Do you have any criminals here?” He says, “No.” They searched and found two men. They said, “Oh, you are concealing fugitives from the law”. Then they took the sādhu and he was sentenced, “You must die.” So, he was sentenced to die by spear, they were going to spear him. Or by arrow, arrow is spear, some projectile.

So, they were ready to aim, and they were going to just have him executed by one means or another. And, at the last moment, when he was about to be pierced by the projectile, the king’s messenger came and he said, “Stop, don’t kill him; the king has ordered his release.” So, the sage, he was very disturbed, “Why he was put in such a predicament? Why he was put in such a difficult position?” So, he approached Yamarāja, who is the ruler of all the karma, “Why I have been put in such a difficult position? What was my aparādha? What was my offense?”

So, Yamarāja explained, “When you were a boy, four five years old, then you were taking a grass and you were poking an insect and by poking insect you were creating tremendous pain for that insect by poking and jabbing; therefore, your punishment was to nearly be killed by being pierced, just like you were piercing when you were a child that insect; innocent insect.”

The sage said, “I didn’t know anything, I was just a child and for that I am suffering? You should… I curse you to take birth as a śūdra! This is not fair! I didn’t know better at that time.”

Yamarāja said, “You know better or not, you were creating pain for a living entity, the law of karma is strict. You cursed me, that is another thing. But I have to carry out this law of karma strictly. No one is free.” So, but as a result, Yamarāja accepted that curse and he became the son of the maid servant. He became the uncle of Kṛṣṇa.

And the illustration is that we may think that “Oh, I have not committed any sinful activity or have done anything so bad, but how many things we’ve done in this life alone, you see, and what is the result? Nobody can properly give the weight. In addition to that, karma is coming in seven levels. Some karma is in the stage of seed stage; some is unmanifest; some seed, some is about to sprout; some is just sprouting; some is already manifested - growing stage; some is already giving fruit, and some is finished. And in this way, there are seven layers of karma reactions. Which birth, which activity will fructify, what time, there is no guarantee. One may have killed a person ten births ago; that sinful reaction is just now coming fructified. Suddenly a person gets crushed under the wheels of a double decker state transport bus. He was not planning, he had gone to school and college to get his degree, to get his job but just walking across the street and he got crushed by the double decker bus.

Recently, in a newspaper, may be a year and six months ago, there was a terrible accident about seven or eight youths were hanging outside of the bus, not an unusual sight in Calcutta and the two buses brushed right against each other and eight people were squished on the side of the bus just like people would squish ants under their feet. This well may have been the result for squishing ants under the feet while walking on the path; no one can say. But critically people will say, “Oh! God is so cruel.” But Kṛṣṇa, He doesn’t take personal care. For those who are not His devotee they say, “Oh! God is dead; God does not care.” So, for them, God is not caring. He has made this material world and He has made the laws by which it runs and everyone is subjected to those strict laws. If someone is squished between two buses, this was not an accident, this meant that this was their karma, if someone becomes wealthy that is not an accident. And if some wealthy man gets robbed, that is also not an accident.

One suffers and enjoys according to his previous activities. How we act now will determine what will happen to us in the future; how successful we can be. If a person works very hard; he can get the full effect of his karma but even a person doesn’t work even what good karma he should get, he won’t get; you see, the full effect. “ Everyone has to work”, Kṛṣṇa said, in the Bhagavad-gītā. Everyone has to perform the duty and if one doesn’t perform his duty then in the future, he will reap bad result; he may enjoy for the time-being the results of his previous activity but in the future his non-work, no one cannot hurt, that means, he can be less active, but eating is going on. If one is not eating prasāda, he is eating sin, anna-kilbisaḥ sinful food, and if one eats prasāda, it is yajña-śiṣṭā, it is the remnants of the sacrifice.

So, Kṛṣṇa says, “Alright! If you want to be free from this karma, I will help you.” In fact, He said, “You should want to be free from this material karma; if you don’t want to, you are most unfortunate and foolish.”

antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām
(Bg 7.23)

Kṛṣṇa clearly said, “Someone who thinks, (you see) who is desiring to get this temporary material fruits he is less intelligent; he is a fool.”

Kṛṣṇa says that “If you worship Me you come to Me; if you surrender to Me I will deliver you from all this miserable nature.” But if you are so proud, “No Kṛṣṇa! I will not serve You! I don’t want help from You Kṛṣṇa.” Then the responsibility lies on more on but Kṛṣṇa. Even the person he doesn’t know about Kṛṣṇa, he is ignoring Kṛṣṇa that is also his fault; why he is not trying to understand where this universe is coming. I have mother; I have father; they have mother; they have father; they had mother; they had father, they have had mother, they had father and in this way, and infinitum, we see that everyone is having a source. So, the natural inquiry a human can make is what is the source of this universe. You see. So, if someone is not inquiring, if he is ignoring Kṛṣṇa, then the result is that he is responsible, the result is he is responsible for his activity. You see.

Just like this state has so many laws; if we follow the laws of the state then we are protected by the law. But if we disobey the laws of the state, then we are forced to suffer. You see. But the president, you see, he is above the law of the state. In so many dealings he is considered to be immune. Of course, in democracy, they don’t give the president so much power. But in monarchy, basically the king can do no wrong; the king is not to be challenged but he is the owner on behalf of God. He is the representative of God; so, he is not challenged. You see. So Kṛṣṇa is the owner of everything. The devotee who is simply carrying out Kṛṣṇa’s order, he is protected by Kṛṣṇa. He is not part of this material world.

māṁ ca yo ‘vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate 
sa guṇān samatītyaitān/ brahmā-bhūyāya kalpate
(Bg 14.26)

He is above this material world, above the actions of these three modes of material nature. You see. So, devotee is one who understands who is Kṛṣṇa - He is my eternal master, He is the Supreme personality of Godhead and he surrenders himself to that Kṛṣṇa that Supreme bird being carrying out His desire; you see. that is the position of a devotee.

(baby crying in background)

And someone who is not a devotee has to take birth; birth is miserable. Ah! We are born, when we were a baby, we are suffering. Sometimes the mother is poking us with a pin, and we are crying, we have no words to express, please take the pin out; we just aaaaaahhh! And we’re being poked and then we’re thinking, “Oh, maybe he has eaten something wrong, maybe he’s suffering headache;” “No, please pull the pin out!” But he has no word to express, simply crying. So, this is our position, we are helpless, you see; in this material nature we are helpless. Although we feel ourselves very strong and powerful due to the illusion of this material world, we can be crushed like a bug at any moment; we are very insignificant beings. But by the arrangement of this material world; we are given the maximum facility to enjoy our desires in material life or by Kṛṣṇa’s arrangement we can become free from this illusion, and we can go back to home back to Godhead. So, this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement is meant for delivering all the fallen conditioned souls; to awaken them.

jīv jāgo, jīv jāgo, gauracānda bole 
kota nidrā jāo māyā-piśācīra kole

“Wake up, wake up, sleeping souls!” How long will you stay sleeping on the lap of that witch māyā.” Lord Caitanya says “Wake up! Wake up!”

āmi binā bandhu āra ke āche tomāra

Who else is your friend to help you in your misery? (Aside: you close the door) Who else is your friend?

When we are in the hospital, when we are suffering someone is there to put the cold water on the head; someone is there to give the injection; someone is there to give the pill; who is there to stop the pain? So, they give a painkiller. Pain is still there; we have simply become numb. No one can save us. You see. The only one person who can save us from this birth, death, old eaves, old age and disease is Kṛṣṇa. So, Kṛṣṇa sends His representatives in the form of spiritual master, acārya, guru, in the form of devotee, in the form of śaktyāveśa-avatāra, in so many different forms. He personally comes Himself, simply to broadcast the message, how to get free from this miserable life.

Only when the people become God conscious can there be a progressive society on this world. A society which has no Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which has no God consciousness is a headless society. Progress means one is progressing back to home back to Godhead. And that so-called material progress means one is simply increasing the pace at which he has been conditioned, until finally one is so degraded that everything is destroyed. Progress in the modern age means increasing the pace of our conditioning, how to become illusioned that is more rapid at a more rapid intense pace until finally people completely lose sight. Thinking that they are defender, their happiness is all that counts, they begin to look upon all their friends, all their relatives everything simply as a means for them to get more and more material sense gratification.

Such a person so filled with greed becomes envious of all his competitors and he becomes filled with hate and thus the world is thrown into a fire of conflict, of ignorance and misery. And all the so-called propaganda based upon material illusion is simply, stop-gap measures, which simply create another smoke screen to the real solution. People have to be redirected; they have to see the positive alternative that Kṛṣṇa is provided. When they finally accept that, unless we obey the laws of God, unless we follow the will of Kṛṣṇa, we cannot be happy. And we put ourselves in Kṛṣṇa’s hand that now I am simply going to follow Your instructions; until that point, there is no shelter; thus, one is forced into unwelcome situations again and again.

So, as soon as, one performs pure devotional service,

vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ 
janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam
(ŚB 1.2.7)

immediately He is given illumination; He is given knowledge; He is given vairāgya; He is given renunciation.

sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje 
ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati
(ŚB 1.2.6)

Causelessly, he becomes filled with self-satisfaction, with spiritual bliss. You see. When one gets the knowledge by which illusion is destroyed, then, just as when one turns the light on in the dark room everything becomes illuminated; that is this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement. Turn on the light of Kṛṣṇa and become illuminated.

Thank you very much.

Devotee: You said due to our karma, we’re given a particular destiny. So, if it’s my karma or my destiny to surrender to Kṛṣṇa than offside Kṛṣṇa, then if it’s not my karma, not my destiny, then I can’t surrender?

Jayapatākā Swami: Surrender to Kṛṣṇa is not a function of karma. If it were a function of karma, then why Kṛṣṇa would offer to Arjuna the choice - either you fight or you don’t fight; but I say fight; that means that there is a choice; living entity has minute independence. If they were just simply “Everything done by destiny”, then there is no question of pāpa and puṇya; there is no question of sin and pious activity. Where is the question of sin? Why there will we be suffering if everything is done by destiny?

How we are able to succeed or fail, how we are able to suffer or enjoy in our activity, that is regulated by our previous activity. You see, people are competing; why one is able to succeed? That ability to succeed, so-called success that means increases enjoyment that is due to how much he has performed pious activities in the past. If someone is born a king, born in a wealthy family; śrī, sūta, janma, aiśvarya - śrī, sūta, janma and aiśvarya - beauty, learning, good birth, and wealth - these things are the products of pious activities and lack of these things is the product of sinful activity. So even material life human being has got the responsibility to choose what to do, what not to do. According to what he does, that creates, you see, new situations.

But basically, because this material world is so powerful that due to association, we are conditioned to choose in a certain way; but somehow or another by association with a sādhu, by association with a devotee or by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy if we get the opportunity to choose to serve Kṛṣṇa or not to serve Kṛṣṇa, you see, that choice has to be made; it is not a matter of destiny. That the choice to be given to us, that may be the destiny, but we have to... what choice we will make, that has up to our own individual.

Some people are not at all destined to meet with such a good fortune. But particularly because a devotee goes out of his way to give him good fortune, even when a person has no good fortune he benefits; somehow or another, whether we are fortunate or whether we are unfortunate, if we get the shelter of Kṛṣṇa, that is our real fortune.

In this material world, one does not have to try for happiness, or just like we don’t have to try for misery, it is coming automatically. But the śāstra saying if you want to get spiritual emancipation, if you want to get Kṛṣṇa consciousness you must try for it. athāto brahmā jijñāsā - One must inquire into the truth because that does not come by destiny; that has to come only by individual effort. It is like we are wrapped up in this big wheel of karma; we have to try to get out of it. The only attempt is try to get to Kṛṣṇa, you see, otherwise we are in the wheel. Kṛṣṇa is outside of the wheel. Therefore, the results of destiny are within, you see, this karma-cakra. Unless one gets the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, he cannot get out of it.

If a person is given that opportunity, he does not take the choice, does not take this opportunity, it is simply understood he is most bewildered, he has lost his intelligence, and no one knows what is their destiny. If a person is destined to be given the choice to go to Kṛṣṇa, and he gets that choice and he refuses and gives the excuse, “No when Kṛṣṇa grabs me by my ear, I will come. If I am forced to, then I will do.” That means he does not want Kṛṣṇa; he was given the choice, he is rejected. Therefore, he is forced to suffer. It is not that Kṛṣṇa is going to drag one, you see; there has to be a little desire.

One has the choice to accept or reject. If we accept Kṛṣṇa, we get His shelter, if we reject Kṛṣṇa, we get the shelter of His illusory energy, Mahāmāyā and we are wrapped up in that destiny of that unlimited wheel of karma. So, we can choose our master. We can have Kṛṣṇa who is eternal, youthful beauty, who is the compassionate, kind Lord, to personally take charge of our life, or we can have His agent Māyā, the prison-keeper take care of us; we can choose our master.

Jayapatākā Swami: Any other question?

Devotee: Yes. (the rest of the question inaudible) [paragraph Jayapatākā Swami: You see, this is a theoretical question. Just like you can ask that if there were no more criminals in this world, what would happen to the prison houses, the jailers and the jail keepers? So, we should propagate crime to give all these people more jobs. (laughter).

Jayapatākā Swami: You see, this same question was said. Vāsudeva Datta, one great devotee of Lord Caitanya, he prayed, “I want to deliver all the fallen souls, let them all go back to Kṛṣṇa and I take all their karma; I will personally take all of their karma, and I will suffer here forever until all the karma is worked out. Let them go back to Kṛṣṇa, I alone will suffer.” And Lord Caitanya, He saw the great compassion of His devotee was crying, embraced him and said that, “You don’t have to worry, they are already delivered by your desire.” But as soon as one batch is delivered, there is unlimited jīvātmās that are still now in a dormant stage, in the brahma-jyoti, in different position. And as soon as one batch of jīvas delivered from the universe, again new jīvātmās come down, so you don’t have to worry; there is always a fresh supply.

Jayapatākā Swami: Any other question?

Devotee: So, when one takes Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is no more under the influence of karma although in the beginning… (inaudible) how does one understand what was destined to him due to his karma? Is that does he receive that or not receive that? He is not under the influences under Kṛṣṇa’s direction. One is destined to be a leader, one’s destined to be poorer... how does that work within Kṛṣṇa consciousness or it’s different?

Jayapatākā Swami: The accumulated karma reactions which are there have to be completely nullified before one can go back to Godhead. So long as one has sinful reactions he has to suffer, so long as he has pious activities he has to enjoy. Suffering and enjoying materially are both causes for staying in this material world. So, when one surrenders to Kṛṣṇa, if one can completely surrender - thought, word and deed everything to Kṛṣṇa, then of course, Kṛṣṇa can immediately take up all the reactions. But generally, when one surrenders to Kṛṣṇa, but the momentum the desires have yet to be purified. So, Kṛṣṇa takes charge of that living entity and as he is performing his devotional service, as he is chanting, the accumulating sins, sinful reactions from the unlimited births are being destroyed.

It is said that while one is chanting, clapping hands with his smiling at the Deity, that as he is clapping his hands, just as in the rice paddy field, sometimes the sparrows are coming down and eating the rice; then we have to clap our hands to scare them away and you see thousands of birds, they fly out, just like that if you are clapping and chanting, dancing and laughing or smiling in kīrtana, as you’re clapping, like this thousands and thousands of sinful reactions are flying away. So, in this way, so many karma reactions are being at every moment we’re performing devotional service, they are being lifted; but because we may be harboring so many attachments in spite of formally surrendering to Kṛṣṇa he has taken charge of our lives at the time of initiation and surrender. But due to so many attachments and so many māyās, reactions are not the momentum is still there on those reactions. So, Kṛṣṇa allows us to enjoy or suffer tokens. Just like a person, he may be enjoying what appears to be a karma of being very wealthy or very powerful; Kṛṣṇa may allow him to maintain that because He promises, “I preserve whatever you have and what you lack I give.” In other words, if a person has something good on his side, Kṛṣṇa doesn’t say, “I have to smash it down.” He maintains it; because when one is pure, he is all good. Pious activities, is because it is intended for material sense gratification; it is not pure goodness. It is materially contaminated goodness, but a devotee is all goodness, pure goodness.

So, Kṛṣṇa protects what good qualities are there and He gives what is lacking; so there may be so many sinful reactions pending - we may have committed a murder, we may have done so many different things - eating meat, taking intoxication, illicit sex in so many different births; so, the reactions for that should come, you see, directly but instead Kṛṣṇa gives a token.

Prabhupāda once cut His finger and blood came. He said that in a previous birth you see I may have chopped a man’s head off and for that now I am giving one drop of blood. A token is given to remind us that how fallen we were, to remind us how we have to be humble and submissive to Kṛṣṇa; because our tendency is become independent, to become very proud, intoxicated by our material situations and so when Kṛṣṇa He gives dose out of little bit out of our karma to us in a reduced infinitesimal token manner to just put us in our place, to remind us and purify. We get purified by suffering. This is the actual fact.

People say that “No! people are hungry, they will never chant God’s name; you have to fill everyone’s belly then they will chant.” But we find that where there people bellies are more full then they don’t like to chant so much. You go in the village, there are poor people, they all very gladly chant. But if you go onto a very, you see, wealthy society, they, “What do I need. I already got my money, I have got everything I need; when I get old may be at that time I will chant God’s name; now I have to go on increasing my wealth.”

When there is great financial difficulty, everyone is praying to God and then when He gives them, “Alright! You get wealth”; they become wealthy; then they forget. Then they think “Oh, economic development is enough; I don’t need any more God”. And then He takes everything away, and then again, they say they are in a position; that is what happens.

After the coming of Kali-yuga, all the… India was the richest place in the world. America was discovered simply because Columbus was trying to find India to get the short route, to get all the wealth, gold and the silks and the masālas; it was the wealthiest place in the world. But, due to Kali-yuga, all the Hindu kings, they gradually became, you see, intoxicated and brahminical culture went down. Gradually by birth, caste consciousness became established in a rampant exploitation. As a result of this, then so many foreign conquestors came and gradually India fell to the foreigners and fell under Mughal rule, then under British rule. You see. Now there is a so-called independence, but you can say that it’s under a foreign political system, because the systems which are being used are not the original systems of Vedic culture; they are mental concoctions. So, the difficulty is where? That if someone becomes too proud then he is forced to, you see, have everything taken away by Kṛṣṇa as a special mercy. Then he can think that, “Why I am suffering? Oh! I must remember Kṛṣṇa.” Otherwise, when one is in his hay day, he has no time for Kṛṣṇa. That is the general thing.

The demigods, they forget about Kṛṣṇa often, you see. And when they… not often but sometimes, when they forget then the asuras come and defeat them. Kṛṣṇa puts… Then they go to Viṣṇu and pray, “Please help us.” So, if Kṛṣṇa did not have asuras to fight with demigods, they would forget in their enjoyment. So, in this material world there is always this conflict, and it has a sublime purpose to bring the people back to Kṛṣṇa. But in spiritual sky where everyone is surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, there is no conflict, Vaikuṇṭha. So, the more we depend on Kṛṣṇa, the more He takes charge of our lives and the more we try to make our own alternative arrangements, you see, beyond maintaining—we have two things (we have to maintain our body and we have to be Kṛṣṇa conscious). So, beyond maintaining our body, if we try to increase unnecessarily our material entanglement, then, you see, to that extent Kṛṣṇa, He will not give His mercy or He will give His mercy by then giving one a good blast of misery to wake up that what am I doing? This is a terrible position I am in! Kṛṣṇa, help me! Kṛṣṇa, help me! Someone may know what reaction will come. What severity the reaction will take, that is, that regulator is held by Kṛṣṇa. Devotee gets a token - finished! Non-devotee - full blast!

And the devotee is not accumulating new karma. So as the karma is going on, as the reactions is being expended, it is finished. And gradually the load is getting lighter and lighter, and one is getting closer and closer to Kṛṣṇa; more attracted to Kṛṣṇa; more spontaneously devoted to Kṛṣṇa. While the non-devotee, every karmic reaction creates more reactions, he becomes more and more weighted down with unlimited accumulation until finally he falls down and goes back into the lowest species of life.

Jayapatākā Swami: Any other question? Did I answer your question?

Devotee: (Question inaudible) He or she committed sinful activity… offer the profit to Kṛṣṇa, half of the amount to Kṛṣṇa then what sinful activity that I will get?

Jayapatākā Swami: You see, whatever one does for Kṛṣṇa, for that he is never the loser; he always gains. If one gets money by sinful means, you see, then if he offers to Kṛṣṇa he can get forgiven for that but Kṛṣṇa doesn’t want that the person should go on committing sinful activities. That’s why, people who are committing the sinful activities, they generally speaking, don’t give to Kṛṣṇa.; they may give to some demigod. They know that if they give to Kṛṣṇa, then Kṛṣṇa say, “Oh! this living entity wants to get my shelter,” then Kṛṣṇa puts him in such a position, He takes away the opportunity to commit such sinful activity and gives opportunity to more fully devote in Kṛṣṇa’s service; so they avoid Kṛṣṇa. These… generally speaking the people doing heavily sinful activity and they approach some demigod, where they think that, “Well, I will give and I’ll get back some more opportunity to enjoy sinful life, without any... In other words, someone who is sinning very heavily, usually unless he gets put in some very difficult position he won’t like to get out. So, but if one somehow or another gives to Kṛṣṇa, then he is freed from that sin, no doubt. Kṛṣṇa takes the reaction. But Kṛṣṇa does not want that one should earn money by unfair means and give to Him. So, then Kṛṣṇa will try to give some good instruction to that person. But if one is actually, you see, getting money by any means and giving to Kṛṣṇa, then he is like a tax collector; you see. Because everything is belonging to Kṛṣṇa, actually everyone should be giving to Kṛṣṇa. Other sinful people they are not giving to Kṛṣṇa. So, if one is actually taking, giving to Kṛṣṇa, where is the question of sinful activity?

The problem is that if someone who is engaging in illicit activity and then said, “I am going to give to Kṛṣṇa” generally due to such a tamasic association, they never get… they get contaminated and cannot give to Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, it is recommended that the Vaiṣṇava should not perform activity which is, you see, against the regulative principles. But in this material world every work is sinful, every work has got some bad part to it. If you do business, you must tell lie and cheat; there is no way out of it. That’s why if a man is doing business, he must be giving to Kṛṣṇa; if he doesn’t, definitely he will be defeated by this material energy, because you have to tell lies to do business. If you tell a person who is buying something, this thing is not very good. You bought it someone who told you is very good. You bought it and say, “Oh, is not good.” But you tell everyone this is not good but you should buy any way, no one would buy; You have to say this is first class, it may have a rip in it, may have a defect; it’s a very good thing you must say if you want to make your money back. You’ll make no profit. So business means, to some extent, you see, there has to be little bit of misrepresentation; you can say at least not complete representation of all the defects; otherwise how you can make money? You see. So, what is the question of degree?

A person is putting a poison in the oil, giving mobile oil, killing people and then giving the money to Kṛṣṇa, he may, you see, get some relief, but he may also, you see, have to suffer for the reactions and then he will get the results of giving to Kṛṣṇa. How Kṛṣṇa would do? Unless one fully surrenders, he does not get full shelter. Once when one is fully surrendered, he cannot do that, he cannot poison people with mobile oil, because that is against the regulative principles. So, until one is fully surrendered, he will get both the puṇya and the pāpa; he won’t get the spiritual shelter. So that means you have to suffer for his misdeed, and he will have to… you see… to get the enjoyment for his good deeds.